Jim Chalmers ‘hasn’t scratched the surface’ of the budget’s structural deficit

Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume has called out Treasurer Jim Chalmers for failing to “scratch the surface” of the budget’s structural deficit. Mr Chalmers is expected to reveal a second consecutive budget surplus. It will make Jim Chalmers the first Labor treasurer since Paul Keating to produce back-to-back budget surpluses. “The hard work, the hard decisions, haven’t been done by Jim Chalmers,” Ms Hume told Sky News Australia. “In fact, he hasn’t scratched the surface of the structural budget deficit that we are facing. “We’re facing a much higher budget deficit in the next financial year and higher again after that, which is a demonstration that the hard work hasn’t really been done to improve the structural bottom line.”